Following its year-long “Cad-coin” experiment (conducted in conjunction with the R3 consortium), Canada’s central bank determined that there are still “many hurdles to overcome” before DLT could reliably be deployed as the technology “underpin[ning] an entire wholesale payment system.”

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) and Committee on the Global Financial System produced a paper on the risks and benefits presented by innovative credit offerings and markets. The report [full text] is the FSB’s latest in a series of studies aimed at “assessing the impact [of] fintech developments on the global financial system.”

In a special report on DLT [full text], the European Central Bank (ECB) said that blockchain technology is not yet mature enough to be part of its market infrastructure. Despite noting the technology’s benefits, the ECB said DLT needs to demonstrate improved safety and efficiency before EU markets could consider implementing it.

China’s multi-purpose messaging app WeChat has won significant market share in China’s crowded mobile-internet marketplace by embracing quick-response (QR) codes, now used for almost all WeChat in-store payments. The app’s ubiquity has also helped reshape the way its 768 million users make payments to restaurants, taxis, and each other.

The Financial Times reported that thousands of regulatory and compliance jobs will disappear “as the world’s biggest banks harness artificial intelligence systems.” “In a report called ‘digital disruption’ sent to clients this week, Citi said there was a ‘huge cost take-out opportunity for financial institutions’ from the fast-growing area of regulatory technology or regtech.”

Yahoo disclosed this in November, so I’m not sure why this is suddenly getting more play. But, in case you missed . . . The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the timing of Yahoo’s disclosure of the two large cyber breaches it suffered to investors, reported the Wall Street Journal. “To date, Yahoo hasn’t explained why the…